The popularity of beverages provided in cans has increased in the last several years. Beverages stored in these containers would include carbonated soda, beer, ice tea, or fruit juices. These containers often include a "pop top" opener allowing an individual to unseal the can and allow access to the beverage therein. Unfortunately, these "pop tops" cannot be reclosed, thereby forcing the individual either to drink the entire contents of the container or throwing away the unused liquid.
Several prior art patents including U.S. Pat. No. 2,333,645, issued to Eckman; U.S. Pat. No. 3,670,920, issued to Rohrlick; U.S. Pat. No. 3,680,730, issued to Schlanger; U.S. Pat. No. 3,982,656, issued to Kusmierski et al; U.S. Pat. No. 4,511,057, issued to Tontarelli; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,501,357, issued to Fullin have addressed this problem. For example, the patent to Rohrlick describes a sealing device for easy opening cans provided with a lever connected to a main latching member provided with a hook. The lever is also connected to a cover provided with a planar member having a hook portion. Both of these hook portions are designed to fit over the rim of a can. Therefore, when the lever is in the position shown in FIG. 2, the can is sealed. Although many of these patents endeavor to seal a can of liquid after a "pop top" has been opened, due to the structure utilized to accomplish this end, the closure structures have proved to be inadequate.